The Cinderella Story: The Grimm Brothers Version Of Cinderella

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¨She wept so much that her tears fell upon it and watered it. It grew and became a beautiful tree.¨ (Grimm). In the Grimm brothers version of Cinderella, she goes through anguish and depression due to the death of her mother, the nonexistent presence of a father and the hardships she deals with at home. This is what causes her to go to her mother's grave multiple times a day and to be able to cry enough tears to be able to water an entire tree. These hardships Cinderella endures, the depression she experiences and many other elements of the story are a common part of virtually all the various versions of Cinderella. For example, these elements can also be seen in the ¨Little Golden Book Cinderella” story and the film version, Cinderella. Although
Even though the overall setting of each story remains the same or very similar, there are smaller settings that have both similarities and differences. Each version of Cinderella takes place in a time long ago where women have no rights and basically had to make a living through marriage. But, the seasons each story takes place is different between each version. For example, the Grimm brothers’ version of “Cinderella” starts in the Autumn. Autumn is an archetype that represents tragedy and death. In the beginning of the story, Cinderella’s mother dies which is tragic for Cinderella and results in her crying at her grave everyday as explained earlier. The “Little Golden Book Cinderella” takes place in summer. Summer is an archetype for marriage which relates to a common topic in the story which is true love. Also, the story ends with a wedding which also relates to the season the story takes place in. One very important setting in the “Little Golden Book Cinderella” is the garden. The garden also prevails in the film Cinderella and they share a very similar purpose in both. A garden is an archetype that means paradise and innocence. This is Cinderella’s place of paradise in both of these stories because she goes here to get away from the horrors and malice she faces inside of the house from her stepsisters and her stepmother. She comes here in both stories to weep and let out her emotion from everything she has gone through. In the “Little Golden Book Cinderella” it states “Cinderella ran into the garden. She wept and wept.”(Little Golden Book CInderella). But in the Grimm brothers’ version, rather than praying at a garden she “went out to her mother’s grave every day and wept, and she remained pious and good” (Grimm). This is completely different than the other two settings and this relates to the darker theme the author attempted to

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